I remember I listened Agent Steel a lot of years ago in a friend's house that was older than me, I think it was in the year 1989/1990 I can't remember well, the Cd was "Skeptics Apocalypse" and it was the time when thrash metal was in its golden days, I remember listening all day my cassettes, Metallica, Anthrax, Nuclear Assault, Testament, Megadeth, Slayer, Kreator… ooohh those days…

This record changed my listening experience forever....I never realized how important fast, thrashy riffing was in my power metal before.

I guess you didn't see Powermetal in its genesis, then. Because that's how Powermetal was originally. Basically, melodic Speed Metal. But people are so used to Flowermetal nowadays that they believe this pussy rock-ish stuff is the real Powermetal. Imo, there is very little real melodic Speed Metal nowadays, as it has been replaced by Flowermetal.

Just listen to early Helloween or Blind Guardian or 90s Gamma Ray and you will see how important good riffing and fast drums were in old Powermetal.

For the record, I despise Flowermetal but I listened to a few songs from this album and the music is quite decent. I don't like vocals but you can hardly hope for me to like vocals in Powermetal, I admit, as I'm extremely picky when it comes to PM vocals and I listen almost exclusively to metal with harsh vocals nowadays.

This record changed my listening experience forever....I never realized how important fast, thrashy riffing was in my power metal before.

I guess you didn't see Powermetal in its genesis, then. Because that's how Powermetal was originally. Basically, melodic Speed Metal. But people are so used to Flowermetal nowadays that they believe this pussy rock-ish stuff is the real Powermetal. Imo, there is very little real melodic Speed Metal nowadays, as it has been replaced by Flowermetal.

Just listen to early Helloween or Blind Guardian or 90s Gamma Ray and you will see how important good riffing and fast drums were in old Powermetal.

For the record, I despise Flowermetal but I listened to a few songs from this album and the music is quite decent. I don't like vocals but you can hardly hope for me to like vocals in Powermetal, I admit, as I'm extremely picky when it comes to PM vocals and I listen almost exclusively to metal with harsh vocals nowadays.

My message is simple. Imo, Powermetal was once a very good, respectable and promising genre. However, throughout the years, it took way too much distance from its roots and became something else. And that's why the genre is now slammed and a subject of sarcasm and mockery. If bands would still release the same kind of stuff as early Powermetal, the genre would be considered with much higher regards.

There are still albums I like and have respect for but very very little new PM stuff is worthy. And, imo, surely not the pretentious pseudo-symphonic, barely-metal shit that is so trendy these days. This symphonic stuff is often the antithesis of metal, guitars and drums being pushed back in the background and playing only a support role, instead of giving the drive to music.

This record changed my listening experience forever....I never realized how important fast, thrashy riffing was in my power metal before.

I guess you didn't see Powermetal in its genesis, then. Because that's how Powermetal was originally. Basically, melodic Speed Metal. But people are so used to Flowermetal nowadays that they believe this pussy rock-ish stuff is the real Powermetal. Imo, there is very little real melodic Speed Metal nowadays, as it has been replaced by Flowermetal.

Just listen to early Helloween or Blind Guardian or 90s Gamma Ray and you will see how important good riffing and fast drums were in old Powermetal.

For the record, I despise Flowermetal but I listened to a few songs from this album and the music is quite decent. I don't like vocals but you can hardly hope for me to like vocals in Powermetal, I admit, as I'm extremely picky when it comes to PM vocals and I listen almost exclusively to metal with harsh vocals nowadays.

Bottom line: I hate modern Flowermetal but this stuff is good.

You've gone extreme mainly due to your preference had been restricted to Germany Power style, any slight difference from them would be classified as Flower. A typical music extremist.